Beach Ball Volleyball


This fun idea was submitted by Ruth Jeffery, a Spanish III and Pre-AP teacher from Dulles High School in Sugar Land, Texas.

Here’s what Ms. Jeffery wrote:

There are many games I use in the classroom to teach and reinforce, but this game is hands down the students' favorite. It is simple and costs virtually nothing. This game can be used for any subject and for any concept.

Purchase a blow up beach ball. (I got mine free from a Spanish language conference and it has the design of the world.)

Decide on the concept that you want to reinforce.
Tell the students that you are going to play a game (that will get them interested). Tell them it is a review game and the object is to get the most right answers in one minute. Post the points on the board by class and explain that the class with the best score of the day will earn extra points on the quiz. Tell them that they must work as a team.

Toss the ball to a student and ask a question. If she does not know it or gives the wrong answer the rest of the class can help her. The student cannot pass the ball until she has said the correct answer. When the student has answered correctly she must pass the ball to someone else. The person she passes to must be more than two students away and the ball must be airborne (no passing hand to hand). If the ball is thrown to someone who has already answered the question he must not catch it but instead “bump” it to someone who has not already answered a question. It is usually easy in the beginning but becomes harder as more students have answered questions. If the ball drops on the ground the team loses a point.

I usually give each class the opportunity to play it three times and I post their best score on the board. This game is fun, involves all students in learning, creates a cooperative atmosphere and is a great learning tool.


 
July 25, 2006
 
10 Scientific Ocean Facts
 
1.

The Bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world. The Bay, which separates New Brunswick from Nova Scotia, sometimes has a difference of as much as 53 feet between high tide and low tide!
   
2.

The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived on our planet! This mammal, with a heart the size of a Volkswagen, is bigger even than the greatest dinosaurs, and still lives in the ocean today.
   
3.

The ocean is full of gold. If all of the gold suspended in the ocean could be mined, there would be enough to give each person on the planet more than 7 pounds, or $80,000 worth, of gold.

   
4.

The pressure in the ocean at its deepest point is more than 8 tons per square inch. To get a feel for just how much pressure that is, imagine how weighed down you would feel while trying to hold up 50 jumbo jets!
   
5.

The oceans cover 71 percent of the Earth's surface. But 90% of all the Earth's volcanic activity occurs in the oceans.
   
6.

The deepest spot on Earth, Challenger Deep, is 35,802 feet (11,034 m) deep. It is found in the Mariana Trench, one of the many deep valleys of the Pacific Ocean.
   
7.

The largest living structure on Earth is the Great Barrier Reef. The Reef, located in Australia, measures 1,243 miles and is made up of millions of limestone-depositing coral colonies.

   
8.

The highest point above sea level is more than a mile less than the lowest point below sea level. Mount Everest, the highest point on the Earth's surface is  5.49 miles high, while the Challenger Deep, the deepest point in the ocean, is 6.86 miles deep.
   
9.

Of the 350 or so shark species in our oceans, only a very small portion are really dangerous. Only about 80% grow to more than 5 feet and they rarely cross paths with people.
   
10.

Our oceans contain 97 percent of the Earth's water. Of the remaining 3%, about 1% is fresh water, and the remaining 2% is held in glaciers and ice caps.
 
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